The Northern white rhinoceros is a rare animal, and as of this weekend, of the remaining four known to exist, the number has now been reduced to three.
Nola, a 41-year-old Northern white rhinoceros has died at the San Diego Zoo over the weekend. Zoologists who has been caring for the animal since 1989 had been treating Nola for a bacterial infection, as well as age-related health problems.
Over a 24-hour period, the bacterial infection continued to worsen and get out of control, so the zoologists decided to euthanize Nola to end the pain and suffering that she had been going through.
“Nola, who lived here since 1989, was under veterinary care for a bacterial infection, as well as age-related health issues,” The San Diego Zoo said in a statement via Facebook over the weekend. “In the last 24 hours, Nola’s condition worsened and we made the difficult decision to euthanize her. We’re absolutely devastated by this loss, but resolved to fight even harder to End Extinction.”
The only existing Northern white rhinoceroses known to exist on Earth today are in captivity in Kenya, where they are taken care of by experts in the field and are guarded by armed guards. One is a male, whose sperm counts are painfully low, and the other two are females, although the two females are unable to reproduce naturally.
In simpler terms, this means that there is a dark and dreary sight ahead for this particular species of animal unless scientists can somehow deal with the problem of infertility and low sperm count among the remaining animals.
The low numbers of the animal in existence today can be attributed to poachers who had killed the animals for their valuable horns.
Earlier in the year, another of the rare species named Nabire passed away due to a ruptured cyst. The San Diego Zoo keeps in mind that Nola’s legacy lives on and represents the fight to end extinction.
Source: San Diego Zoo Safari Park (Facebook)